Past, present and future of epigenetics in brain sexual differentiation

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. e12492 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. G. Forger
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Brain Sexual Differentiation

scholarly journals Evidence of Altered Brain Sexual Differentiation in Mice Exposed Perinatally to Low, Environmentally Relevant Levels of Bisphenol A

Endocrinology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 147 (8) ◽  
pp. 3681-3691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beverly S. Rubin ◽  
Jenny R. Lenkowski ◽  
Cheryl M. Schaeberle ◽  
Laura N. Vandenberg ◽  
Paul M. Ronsheim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Bisphenol A ◽  
Brain Development ◽  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Critical Periods ◽  
Neuron Number ◽  
Brain Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Estrogenic Chemical

Humans are routinely exposed to bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogenic chemical present in food and beverage containers, dental composites, and many products in the home and workplace. BPA binds both classical nuclear estrogen receptors and facilitates membrane-initiated estrogenic effects. Here we explore the ability of environmentally relevant exposure to BPA to affect anatomical and functional measures of brain development and sexual differentiation. Anatomical evidence of alterations in brain sexual differentiation were examined in male and female offspring born to mouse dams exposed to 0, 25, or 250 ng BPA/kg body weight per day from the evening of d 8 of gestation through d 16 of lactation. These studies examined the sexually dimorphic population of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) neurons in the rostral periventricular preoptic area, an important brain region for estrous cyclicity and estrogen-positive feedback. The significant sex differences in TH neuron number observed in control offspring were diminished or obliterated in offspring exposed to BPA primarily because of a decline in TH neuron number in BPA-exposed females. As a functional endpoint of BPA action on brain sexual differentiation, we examined the effects of perinatal BPA exposure on sexually dimorphic behaviors in the open field. Data from these studies revealed significant sex differences in the vehicle-exposed offspring that were not observed in the BPA-exposed offspring. These data indicate that BPA may be capable of altering important events during critical periods of brain development.

Neuroendocrine Mechanisms and the Aetiology of Male and Female Homosexuality

1981 ◽  
Vol 139 (4) ◽  
pp. 341-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malcolm J. MacCulloch ◽  
John L. Waddington
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Male Homosexuality ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Object Choice ◽  
Brain Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Neuroendocrine Mechanisms ◽  
Female Homosexuality ◽  
Normal Men ◽  
Sexual Object

SummaryTheories on the classification and aetiology of male homosexuality are reviewed, particularly recent hypotheses on the role of prenatal hormonal influences on brain sexual differentiation and subsequent sexual object choice in the male. Female as well as male brain sexual differentiation may be hormonally determined, and so primary homosexuality in both sexes may be due to abnormalities in foetal exposure to hormones, leading first to physical mis-differentiation and later to homosexual behaviour in genetically and phenotypically normal men and women.

Effects of a prenatal androgen peak on rat brain sexual differentiation

1986 ◽  
Vol 108 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Perakis ◽  
F. Stylianopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Rat Brain ◽  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Cyproterone Acetate ◽  
Male Rat ◽  
Testosterone Levels ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Female Brain ◽  
Brain Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Prenatal Androgen ◽  
The Brain

ABSTRACT Exposure of the developing female brain to a 5α-dihydrotestosterone surge on day 18 of gestation resulted in defeminization and slight masculinization of the brain. In contrast, abolition of the androgenic effects of the testosterone peak naturally occurring in male fetuses on day 18 of gestation by exposure of the developing male brain to cyproterone acetate, at that time, resulted in demasculinization while feminization was not affected. On the basis of these results, we suggest that both the prenatal testosterone peak and the high testosterone levels occurring in males neonatally are necessary for aromatization sufficient to effect complete male rat brain sexual differentiation. J. Endocr. (1986) 108, 281–285

Changes in gene expressions induced by perinatal estrogen related to the brain sexual differentiation in rodents

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youki Watanabe ◽  
Mototsugu Sakakibara ◽  
Yoshihisa Uenoyama ◽  
Shiori Minabe ◽  
Chikaya Deura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Gene Expressions ◽  
Brain Sexual Differentiation ◽  
The Brain
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